Carved in Crystal
by Paramoral
Summary: 7 people, chosen by fate to be hunted down and destroyed. Their leader; an over-confident woman named Moira who isn't who she seems. Their prosecutor; a living skeleton detective, and his 14-year-old sidekick.  And the moon comes into it somewhere.


Valkyrie took a deep breath before taking a step forward. Everyone around her; Tanith, Ghastly, Skulduggery, Ashione, Vantom, and Deck, were perfectly silent, but her own heartbeat was racing so fast, she just knew everyone else could hear it. The warehouse door was opened only a crack; barely enough for Skulduggery to squeeze in by, and she wondered if she could hold her breath long enough to be able to pass through. The blazing Australian sunshine clawed eagerly at her back, desperate to tan her skin, but her coat kept them at bay, forcing them back into the open air. A cool breeze blew from inside the warehouse, keeping her face cool, and she just wished they would hurry up, even if it meant rushing into a fight they weren't ready for. She wanted to be cool. She wanted to actually _stop_ sweating. Ghastly Bespoke, who had made her clothes, had assured her they would always adjust to her body temperature, keeping her comfortable no matter what, but it wasn't working today. The warehouse and about fifty square miles around it were bound; so well, in fact, that even the magic of her clothes was dwindling. She desperately wished she could manipulate the air around her and cool her down, but there was no magic for her here.

Not yet.

A small _"beep" _came from behind her making her jump slightly. She glanced round and saw Deck, his insane hair blonde and spiky. He was looking down at his arm, where a small timer was built in, showing a countdown. He looked up at her, not making eye contact through his strange green goggles, and nodded. It was time.

Skulduggery turned his head round, the sun bleaching his skull quickly, and inclined towards the warehouse. Absolute silence.

Everybody nodded, and Skulduggery moved to the side as Ashione stepped up, her long brown hair scooped into a ragged ponytail. Ashione Flare was pretty, but she never seemed to realise it, and certainly didn't care about it. Turning sideways and sucking her breath in, she squeezed through the door, disappearing into the darkness and the cool, leaving them behind.

Tanith Low went next, her tousled blonde hair gleaming like a fire in the Aussie sunlight. Her muscles glistened with sweat in the sun as she squeezed through the door, her tight leather insulating her body heat and keeping her breath sucked in at the same time.

Deck went third, keeping his electronic arm well away from the walls of metal, lest the scraping noise reached unwanted ears. The mission had to be done in silence.

Utter silence.

Ghastly followed up quickly and quietly, nodding to Skulduggery and Valkyrie as he went. His head was ridged with deep scars, making him look ugly upon first glance, but Valkyrie and her friends knew he was a kind man, and the scars were only an illusion of his personality. His form was large and muscled, and it was an extremely tight fit for him, but he made it with only a faint rustle of clothing.

Vantom stepped up, huge and imposing, his form blocking out the sunlight. His head was shaven, although some hair was beginning to grow after three days of not being cut. His sleeveless green trench-coat looked decidedly hot and stuffy as he crammed himself through the door, but he did it without complaint or sound. He hadn't spoken to them at all since they arrived in Australia.

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery before stepping up to the door. He nodded to her, noting the fear on her face. She was only thirteen, and this mission was very dangerous. It was a risk even having her with him, but she was adamant not to be left out, so eventually he had to bring her along with him.

She turned away and slipped through the door nimbly, her coat rustling slightly, Skulduggery hot on her heals.

"Remember," he whispered to her. "There's no time for sight-seeing whilst we're here. We have a job to do, not take in the scenery."

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow as they entered the building, which was dark, but, thank God, nice and cool. Tanith and the others were just ahead of them, keeping low. There was nothing in front of them but a huge steel wall, casting a pitch-black shadow on them all, cloaking them all from view. Skulduggery and Valkyrie joined the others as they crept along the wall towards a gap they saw at the end, which lead into the rest of the warehouse. She noticed no one was touching the wall, and more than that, making a show of not touching it. Valkyrie hadn't been in the detective business for very long, but she knew a bad sign when she saw one. Ashione, up in the lead, motioned for them all to stop moving once she had reached the gap. Silently, she tilted her head sideways until she could see round it. Valkyrie bit her lip as Ashione didn't move. After what seemed like forever, she brought her head back round the corner, and her eyes were as wide and as bright as the stars at night. She opened her mouth to speak, but Skulduggery twisted round sharply, shaking his head. Ashione nodded sullenly, her eyes narrowing, and motioned with her finger. Then, as quick as anyone her height and size could move, she darted round the corner, vanishing from sight. Tanith, the Deck, then Ghastly and Vantom followed, not a noise given out by either of them. Valkyrie frowned as she reached the corner. She wasn't prepared for whatever lay around the corner, and neither was she dreading rounding it. Whatever Ashione had seen interested her immensely; so when she darted round the corner, it wasn't duty or adrenaline that made her do it; it was her inquisitive nature as a teenage girl.

_Something slipped as silently as a serpent across the ceiling of the warehouse, eyes as green as crushed emeralds surveying the ground beneath it. It sensed something; it wasn't sure what, but there was something there. Not beneath it, but somewhere around it. _Close_ to it, perhaps. The eyes darted around, looking, testing the surface beneath it for tremors. No, nothing. The warehouse went on for about quarter of a mile, but then sloped underground and went on for miles after that. Whatever was here could be either end of the warehouse, and it wouldn't know until they had snuck up on it and . . . did whatever they wanted to do to it. Slowly, the thing reached up to it's neck with a slender hand, tipped with manicured fingernails, and gently tapped the button on the communicator it wore on it's neck. The ear-piece crackled in it's pierced ears, and the thing frowned, and changed frequencies . . . and a voice answered._

"_What is it?"_

_The thing slithered across the ceiling on strong legs, until it was as far into the shadows as it could get, and then answered the call._

"_I'm not one hundred percent on this one," it answered in a strong Australian accent. The voice was unmistakably female, but it was deeper and a bit more powerful than the voice on the other end."But there may be a security breach up here. Get the kids to safety; it's not safe until I say it is, okay?" She, the thing, waited anxiously for the reply; signals around this place were terrible, but it was their best method of communication. After a few seconds, the device crackled slightly again, and the reply came._

"_Understood. We'll meet you in checkpoint B. Over and out." The thing smiled on dark lips, showing a set of perfect teeth._

"_Can it with this military lingo, Nala," it smiled into the communicator. "I'm an old-fashioned girl, you know that." She raised that hand again and flicked off the communicator, removing the ear-piece from her ear, and climbed steadily across the ceiling again. There was an entrance to the warehouse not fifteen meters away, but if someone had intruded, then it would be risky being inquisitive. Smiling still, the creature backed out of the shadows and into the light. The creature was human; but she stalked the ceilings as though she was gravity, using her smile to keep her aloft. Her hair was black and tousled, adorned with a single plait at the front, framing a beautiful face with darkly-rimmed eyes that held the crushed emeralds. She wore a form of Sari; richly crimson and complicated, that arched across her chest and down her back, secured in place by a leather belt that clasped hundreds of beaded necklaces. The Sari wrapped around one thigh and ran down the other leg, right down to her foot, which was adorned in open-toed leather sandals. The shirt she wore under the Sari was yellow and skin-tight, opening up into three ovals on her back, exposing her tanned skin. In all, she was a beautiful, somewhat savage specimen, and one that some people would pay a lot of money for. _

_Or for her hide. _

_The woman slithered across the ceiling until she reached a ledge, and she left the ceiling, travelling downwards, somersaulting elegantly before hitting the ground silently. Serpentine as she had appeared whilst in the air, once she reached the ground, she became a tigress; her legs were muscled and powerful,and her eyes narrowed, much more alert._

_On the ceiling, she was the predator._

_On the ground, she was fair game._

_Casting a glance round towards the North entrance, and spotting nothing, she quickly began to move south, toward the gaping mouth that lead to the underground cavern. If there was something there, she would do what any threatened animal would do; lure it into it's territory, and strike with it's herd or pack._

_Or flutter, if it were a butterfly. _

_Casting one glance back over her shoulder, the woman thought she saw shifting movement, almost like a flick of dark hair, but she didn't have time to stop. Like an animal, once again, like the animal she had become, she had to protect her cubs._

_Protect them from the hunters, poachers, and worst of all, the pest control, that invaded their home._

_Blood would be spilled that day._

Valkyrie's mouth dropped open at what she saw around the corner. The warehouse was tall; tall enough for a few trees to grow, but not prosper as the lack of sunlight was a problem. But the trees that had miraculously grown in here did not need sunlight . . .

except to dazzle.

Thirty-foot tall trees sheltered in the warehouse, stretching on for a quarter of a mile before disappearing down what looked like a large slope, the distant sound of water adding to the beautiful sight. Each tree was white and gleaming; made of pure crystal. Each branch, each twig was perfectly carved, every vein in every leaf. It was so beautiful and delicate that Valkyrie feared breathing; one breath would shatter these trees and impale them all. That would be a shame, but she couldn't stand to see the destruction of those works of beauty.

"What trees are they?" she whispered gently, looking at Skulduggery.

"Gapra trees," he replied softly. "See the ways the leaves stretch out wider than any others you see? It's to shelter and protect anyone underneath them; which is a problem for us." Valkyrie smiled as she gazed up at the crystal trees, just taking in how stunning they were. Hiding between the vast roots of one of them, she caught her reflection in the glass-like surface, and caught herself grinning.

"_Oh my God."_

She looked up suddenly as she heard Ashione swear gently, everyone turning to her.

"I saw one," the woman muttered, her eyes narrowed. Valkyrie frowned and looked round the tree, only to be yanked back by Skulduggery. She tried to protest, but one look from Ashione made her stop. Deck shifted forward on his ankles, pressing buttons on his arm, frowning.

"No life signs other than us seven," he murmured, checking the green screen that shown nothing but a flat-line. "You sure your eyes ain't playing no tricks on you, Ashione?"

Ashione glowered at him, and pointed a bitten finger-nail in his face.

"You shut the hell up, Deck," she snarled, "or I _swear_ I am going to implant your face in this ground right now." Deck strained not to laugh as she turned to Skulduggery, her eyes narrowed.

"I saw one of them," she insisted again. "Tall, female, dark hair. I didn't get a good glance, but she looked like she was armed."

After a couple of seconds, Skulduggery nodded.

"With what?"

"At a glance, it looked like a staff. It's taller than her, and it looked like it was made of glass. Nasty-looking blade on one end; they kind of curved round into each other. I couldn't see it right, but on the other end, there was some sort of glass orb."

Tanith arched an eyebrow.

"Do we have anyone like that on our data bank?" she asked in her English accent. "We don't have access to the Sanctuary's computers at the minute, so we didn't get to double-check. She doesn't sound like one of _them_. Ashione, remember, the people we're after are probably _heavily _armed. I doubt we're all going to run off from a woman with an over-sized toothpick."

Ashione gave her her best glare, her beady brown eyes locking with Tanith's.

"These are the monsters that killed my family," she hissed, leaning forward threateningly. "Don't think I'm here because the Irish Sanctuary asked me to. I seek revenge, and I won't stop until I get it. Now, if I say that woman was one of them, then she was one of them! I should know! I should _remember_!" Tanith clenched her teeth in an effort not to retort back. Skulduggery had warned her Ashione would be like this; any mention of her parents or little brother would instantly send her off into hysterics.

Best scenario; Ashione would forget it ever happened.

Worst scenario; someone makes a mistake and they all die.

Deck swore suddenly and frowned at his arm, pressing one button after the other. Vantom glared at him as he collapsed back onto his backside, sighing.

"I can't get through!" he complained in a rasping whisper. "Look, right there!" He raised his am into the air and flicked a switch, and the image on his arm projected onto the ground in front of them. There were a few very blurry picture of what looked like two women, and another one of what looked like a boy, but all of the information on the side-lines was covered by a red box. Skulduggery leaned over, and studied the image on the ground.

"It's in ancient Aborigines," he frowned, reading the stamped writing on the box. "Someone has been blocking the information using a language that only a handful of people speak."

Valkyrie sighed in annoyance. Now they would have to do it the usual hard way; charge in, guns blazing. Skulduggery took off his hat and brushed imaginary lint from the brim, still studying the image.

Deck sighed.

"This is draining my power," he said eventually. "Skulduggery, please hurry the hell up."

Skulduggery suddenly jerked up, as if he was remembering he had company.

"What is is?" Valkyrie asked, sensing that he had just one something brilliant. It was a sense she had honed ever since meeting him; one that was as useful as it was accurate. Skulduggery made a noise that sounded approving, and looked up at Ghastly.

"I know what it says," he muttered, putting his hat back on. "Ashione, your description does lead me to believe that the woman you may have seen was the one we're looking for. We have to move quickly and follow her tracks, and hopefully, she'll lead us to the rest of them." Valkyrie grinned excitedly as they all stood up.

"Don't touch the trees," Tanith warned suddenly. "If they're as powerful as you described, Skulduggery, surely they can use the surroundings against us, right?"

"Yes. Good call, Tanith."

Ashione nodded, smiling slightly, and began to lead them away from the tree, being careful not to touch it. Valkyrie took a step away from it as they walked, avoiding even the roots of the tree. As they walked, Ghastly glanced over his shoulder at Skulduggery, raising an eyebrow.

"What did the box say?" he smiled slightly, his voice gruff and low.

Skulduggery titled his head slightly, almost as if he was smiling.

"It's such a typical thing to find underneath a hacker's wing," he replied. "In all honesty, that box was placed around three seconds before Deck hacked into the Sanctuary's files. They know someone's here."

"So what did it say?"

"_Play fair, boys._"

"_The alarm's gone off," Nala said, walking into the clearing. She turned off the communicator, cutting off her conversation with the woman on the other end. Her hair was a deep, rich red, almost crimson, and her thigh-length beige shirt was tied under her chest with a belt. A small pendant hung from her neck, over a small tattoo of an eagle etched onto her collarbone. A large pouch hung off of her back, and a scabbard hung from her left leg, right on her thigh. Inside lay a large gun, locked and loaded. On her shoulders lay two plates of armour, joining on to a large black glove that ran down her entire right arm. Her other arm was bare, except for a finger-less glove on her right hand, with four bullets attached to each knuckle. Her face was pretty, but harsh, worn down by experiences she would rather forget, all hidden behind her bright brown eyes. _

_These eyes darted towards the man sitting on a large crystal stump, a computer on his knee, his eyes narrowed. _

"_There are around seven on 'em," he snarled angrily. His hair was fluffed up in an afro, deep against his black skin. His coat was black, with beige trousers, with two very noticeable holsters on his legs. His boots were big, brown and heavy. "God damn it," he snarled again. "And they're heading this way. Where's Moira when you need her?" He snapped the laptop lid shut and stood up, discarding it on the stump. "She put in the blockage on the Sanctuary's wanted list the minute she knew someone was here, didn't she?" _

_Nala scoffed, smiling slightly._

"_She would," she said, looking over her shoulder. "Moira takes the necessary precautions she has to to keep us safe. That's why she's in charge." The man made a noise in agreement and pulled a control out of his pocket, tapping a few buttons._

"_There's a major power-wave coming from the north entrance," he muttered, looking over at Nala."Almost like a small, portable, cyborg-style piece of equipment. Someone up there has some major tech on his side." Nala sighed, and flipped up the laptop lid, bending over on the stump, and began tapping impatiently at the keyboard._

"_Keep an eye, out, Rajah," she muttered to the man. "I'm doing a full-scan of the Sanctuary's employment list for anyone like that."_

"_You can't do that until I take the blockage down."_

_Nala stood up and looked round as Moira walked into the clearing, her green eyes bright in the reflection of the crystal trees. "Can't 'ave you hacking into my own firewall, can I? What'll that do to my reputation?" She smiled and pressed a few buttons on the keyboard, and the box on the screen vanished, leaving the file page open and ready for searching. Nala smiled and began to scan through the files as Moira stepped up to Rajah._

"_The others are safe?" she muttered to him. He nodded._

"_Carmella protested," he smiled, "but went along with Grace. Susan and Razuel went along obligingly, as they would. They're all safe, and we've set up teleportation crystals all around them. Even if someone were to get into Checkpoint B, they'd simply melt into the crystals and climb out of the other side." Moira smiled, showing her white teeth._

"_Good work," she smiled, and went over to Nala."What'cha found?"_

_Nala smiled and zoomed in on a slightly blurred photo of a man wearing night-vision goggles._

"_His name's Deck," she read, her eyebrows furrowing together. "An employee of the Irish Sanctuary. Cyborg-style arm, which was causing the power fluctuations Rajah was complaining about earlier. They took out most of our instruments, but everything seems to be working fine now. He's no threat; not in here, anyway."_

_Moira frowned, and pointed to the screen, where Nala clicked a hyper-link. A load of pictures and blog-style writing popped up on the screen, and Moira growled, her eyes narrowing. Nala looked up at her, her eyebrows raised._

"_You're worried?" she asked, as Moira nodded. "Why?"_

"_The Irish Sanctuary's got nothing on us," Moira replied, "save for a few. And I'm willing to bet that one of those few were sent here today. The Skeleton Detective, you know 'im, right?" Nala frowned, and clicked onto Skulduggery's info page._

"_Fought alongside him," she muttered, scanning down the page. "If he's here, then odds are he'll have another member of his little team with him. Ghastly Bespoke, if none. They're best friends."_

_Moira grunted and stood upright, snapping down the lip of the laptop._

"_Rajah," she called, causing the man to look up at her. "Get to the checkpoint. You too, Nala. We're going with the Detonation Stratagem. I'll lead 'em off outta here whilst you improve security. Seal yourselves in if you have to. No one gets in, no one gets out. I'll lead 'em somewhere near the jackal fields, so no one will question the crystals on the bodies this time. They'll be dog meat by the time I get home."_

_Nala arched an eyebrow as Rajah picked up the laptop and walked away, tucking it beneath his arm._

"_Argona dia Moira," she muttered, making Moira look up. "That's a little . . ._ dark_ for you." _

_Moira sighed and ran her fingers through her tousled hair._

"_I'll let the jackal's at the whole of Sydney if it means protecting you lot," she grinned. "I know it'll mean getting a little chilly, but cut off your body heat for a little while. They might have scanners. You've all trained as survivors, and now by God, you're gonna be survivors. Now shoo."_

_Nala slipped a sarcastic smile and turned on the spot, and began jogging to catch up with Rajah. _

_When they were gone from the clearing, Moira sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her finger and thumb. Of all the days to be attacked on . . . and it was a Monday, too._

_Moira hated Mondays._

_Sighing heavily, she reached up to her back and detached her staff from its holster, swinging it round as she brought it out in front of her, implanting the bladed end onto the crystal grass at her feet. The staff stood at about seven feet; only strong arms and a tall frame could use it, which made it her ideal weapon. The thought of someone taking her own weapon a using it against her made her cheeks burn with anger. The thought of someone taking her weapon and collapsing under its structure and weight, however, was something that made her smile._

Fifteen minutes later, Skulduggery and the others reached the entrance to the underground caverns.

"Be careful," Skulduggery has expressively warned them. "Deck may have temporarily released the binding spells around this place, but this is their natural habitat. They'll use their surroundings to attack and defend. Stay as far away from the trees as you can, especially you, Valkyrie." Valkyrie had sulked a little at this remark, but the adrenaline rushing through her body quickly snapped her out of her stupor, and she was soon smiling again.

Their surroundings were truly beautiful. Every crystal tree was sublime and delicate, and now they had reached small blades of crystalline grass, that she knew would feel soft instead of sharp, but she still felt grateful she was wearing her boots. A stream that flowed from nowhere ran alongside them, trickling down glass-like rocks into small pools as the cavern sloped downwards. The sound was comforting and gentle, and Valkyrie began to wonder what monsters would live in a place so beautiful.

"The Sheith made this whole place," Tanith whispered to her as the progressed slowly. "The trees, the grass; even the water. They've been based here for almost fifty years now, and by the looks of things, they look like they're hear to stay." Valkyrie blinked.

"They made this place?" she repeated, eyes wide. Tanith smiled.

"If you had paid attention at the briefing," she smiled, "you would know this. The Sheith use crystals as weapons. There are so few Sheith on Earth, that their range of abilities is widely unknown, right? So, we take what we do know and mash it all together. We've even had a few tip-off's suggesting they can make _weapons_ out of the stuff, and grow it out of their skin like armour. They're tough little scrappers, but we'll be able to take them, as long as they haven't perfected their art. Even if they have, we're seven of the top sorcerer's there are. We'll be fine."

"Modesty, my dear Tanith."

"Shut up, Val."

Ashione, up in front, scowled at the last remark and raised her hand for silence, and Valkyrie groaned. _Why so serious? _she muttered in her head in a fake-Joker voice. Skulduggery, Tanith, Ghastly and herself, were enough to take on the Sheith, and doppled with Deck, Vantom and Ashione, they couldn't fail. They walked on for another five minutes, silent as a ghost, until they reached the mouth to the underground caverns. They all quickly dodged to the side, hiding behind a rocky crevice; the only thing that wasn't pure crystal. No matter what the Sheith did to the cavern, they seemed to leave the walls untouched, giving it a slightly more natural look, but far more home-like. Valkyrie crouched down beside Skulduggery as he, Ghastly, and Ashione read the air currents around them, sensing any buffets in the air.

It was Ghastly who stopped first.

"There's someone right around the corner," he whispered. Deck and Vantom watched solemnly as Ashione nodded, clutching the handle of the long-sword she wore on her belt. Go time.

"Remember the plan," Deck muttered. "Valkyrie, you go first. They'll be less likely to attack a kid." Valkyrie glowered.

"I'm not a _kid_," she hissed, and Deck smiled.

"None the less," he grinned, "you're the youngest. Now scoot. If anything bad goes up, Skulduggery next, then Ghastly and Vantom. Ashione and Tanith, you go from behind."

Vantom arched a broad eyebrow, and spoke for the first time.

"And what will you be doing?" he asked, his voice rich and deep. Deck grinned at him, and held his arm up.

"Keeping those binding spells down," he smirked. "How would it be if you were all ready to fight, and suddenly, none of your magic worked? How much would that suck?"

Vantom glowered, but didn't have time to respond, before Skulduggery sighed, and gestured to Valkyrie.

"We're right behind you," he muttered to her. "Try and gather some information if the Sheith is on talking grounds. Every scrap of info we have on them will help us catch them. Now go."

Valkyrie nodded and swallowed, suddenly terrified. She didn't want to go first, but she didn't have a choice now. Standing up as quietly as she could, at a crouch, she slowly walked to the edge of the crevice, earning a squeeze on the hand from Tanith as she did so. Fighting back tears she didn't want Ashione to see, and later mock her about, she took a deep breath and stepped round the rock.

The clearing Valkyrie stepped into was as beautiful as the rest of the warehouse and underground, and more like a woodland than a forest. It was also warm and light, the crystal trees casting reflections of sunlight that came in from somewhere, sending them pirouetting around the forest like a swallow darting through the sky. The crystalline grass was worn down with many footprints, as if this was a main meeting place, or gathering area, but it was empty now; save for one person.

Ten feet away from Valkyrie, a woman stood, about six foot tall. Her arms were strong and muscled, much like Tanith's were, but this woman looked as though she used them a hell of a lot more. In her hand was a large staff, it's glassy sheen at a level of divinity, with what looked like red décor on it, and at one end were two curved blades, cascading into each other like the curved neck of a swan. At the other end was a small orb made of glass; containing one single crystal. Five spikes arched upwards from the orb, deepening from the glassy colour into a deep red. Each spike was tipped with a small yellow feather. Valkyrie expected her to attack, to snarl, or to begin circling her, but instead, she simply leaned on the seven-foot staff, and smiled.

"Well you're a little shorter than I expected," she said, her voice carried by a heavy Australian accent. Her face was beautiful, but Valkyrie knew not to pay attention to the faces of the Sheith; only to do what she needed to do.

After not replying for about a minute, the woman sighed and pulled the staff away from her shoulder, swinging it around in front of her and up, so it rested on her shoulder again, but the rest lay in her hand. It wouldn't take much effort for her to impale Valkyrie where she stood, but she didn't move. She just linked her own brown eyes with the woman's green ones, as she strode up to her.

Valkyrie expected an attack.

The woman stuck her hand out, and smiled.

Valkyrie blinked, and reached out, and shook her hand. The woman's smile widened slightly as the withdrew their hands, and Valkyrie arched an eyebrow.

"Why did you just do that?"

The woman blinked. "You're Irish," she said, suddenly looking over her shoulder. Valkyrie had to dodge to the side to avoid losing an eye to that formidable weapon, and waved her hand slightly.

"Yes," she said, trying to get the woman's attention back on her. Ashione and Tanith would have started to make their way around behind them by now, and if they were spotted, their ambush would have to be completely re-written. "I'm Irish. My name's Valkyrie Cain."

The woman looked round at her again, blinking.

"Valkyrie," she repeated, tasting the word for a second. "Good one. Not inconspicuous, mind you. It's a culture thing."

Valkyrie waited for a second, and when the woman didn't say anything else, she sighed.

"What's your name, then?" she tried, but the woman just looked over her head, at the direction Valkyrie had entered in.

"How many are with you?" she suddenly asked, looking down at Valkyrie again. Valkyrie swallowed. This was going all wrong. Totally, totally wrong. She went to run, but the woman just smiled.

"I'd stay still if I were you," she murmured quietly, so no one bar Valkyrie could hear her. "I touched your hand just a second ago, didn't I?" Valkyrie stopped in her tracks. "These are our forest, Ms. Cain," the woman murmured. "We hold the upper hand here. The minute you take another step forward, you're going to die."

Valkyrie swallowed, and gently turned around to face the woman again, who crouched down slightly, so they were eye level.

"How many?"

"Seven, including me."

"Ireland's best?"

Valkyrie glared up at her, and let a small smile slip across her face.

"Hell yeah."

The woman swore violently as Skulduggery, Ghastly and Vantom dove out from behind the crevice, Ghastly and Skulduggery pushing at the air. The woman grunted as she was pushed back off of her feet, getting her staff under her, and landing almost perfectly. Vantom charged ahead of the other two, whipping his hand out, orange vapour snaking out of the pores on his hand. The woman grunted as she dodged to the right, the trail of vapour following her, and wrapping round her staff. Changing tactics, she whipped the staff round so the double blades swung down dangerously close to her wrists, and the blade cut straight through the vapour.

Ghastly came up next, swinging his massive fists into her body, but she dodged to the left, wrapping the pole of the staff over his hands, suddenly kicking off of the ground on one leg, the other reaching up, her boot catching his face. Ghastly grunted and stepped back as the woman flipped the staff off of his wrists and twisted her body in an upright position, landing on her feet just as Skulduggery sent a fireball soaring straight at her.

Swinging the staff away from her front and up and round her back, the Sheith snapped her palm open like she was manipulating the air, but instead something different happened. The crystalline grass at her feet suddenly expanded, and arched up in front of her at an alarming speed. The fireball struck the crystal uselessly, shattering it, and then blown out.

"Ah," Skulduggery said.

The woman glared at him, and pointed to the shattered crystals before her feet.

"You're cleaning that up," she said, as Ashione lunged from behind.

Valkyrie thought she would have gotten her. Everything about her screamed _successful offensive strike_; narrowed eyes, foot outstretched, hand ready to rip that sword out of her scabbard. Valkyrie almost whooped with joy, but then something she didn't expect happened.

The woman gestured, without even looking, and the crystals at her heels arched upwards in front of Ashione.

Ashione yelled as her body struck the crystal, but instead of pain, she felt a kind of hardness overcome her body, as her outstretched leg vanished into the crystal. She dimly heard someone call her name, but the crystal suddenly expanded, wrapping up her body with a coldness she couldn't feel. The crystal hardened, turning to whiteness before her eyes, and suddenly she saw nothing.

The woman raised her staff to the throat of the crystalline statue of Ashione, her eyes narrowed.

"The minute any of you take a step," she snarled. "I'll shatter her."

Everyone froze. The woman glanced at the statue, which somehow seemed more beautiful than the real Ashione. Her hand was outstretched, her eyes somewhat narrowed in a plea for help. Each strand of hair was visible, flowing out behind her, and her body seemed somewhat smoother; like she wasn't wearing any clothes, but she wasn't naked, either. All around the base of the statue, crystals arched upwards in tear-jerking beauty, curling up and around the figure, as though it was an ornament.

Ashione had become a trophy.

Skulduggery slowly reached into his jacket, where he kept his gun.

"What's your name?" he asked, his voice harsh. The woman frowned, tilting her head upwards slightly, as though she was surveying him. Eventually, she arched an eyebrow.

"Moira," she replied, picking over the name. "Argona dia Moira." Skulduggery tilted his head.

"So you're from the Argonian province?" he asked, suddenly seemingly interested. Moira frowned at the sudden change of tone, and nodded demurely, the staff not wavering from Ashione's throat.

"The southern clans."

"Ah. So you served under the Faceless Aura's."

Moira stepped forward quickly, swinging the staff round and pointing it at him, the other end scratching the surface of Ashione's hand. Skulduggery, Ghastly, Vantom and Valkyrie took a step back.

"Don't you ever say I served the Faceless Aura's," Moira snarled. "It's their fault we're in this mess. You're only in this country because of the Faceless Aura's. The ornament behind me is only in this state because of the Faceless Aura's. You know _nothing_ of Argona."

Valkyrie frowned.

"What's a Faceless Aura?"

Moira looked at her, anger burning in her brilliant eyes. Skulduggery raised his hand slightly, as if to hold Valkyrie back, and tilted his head towards her confidentially.

"The Faceless Aura's are God's," he said, Vantom listening in. "But not like the Faceless One's; the Faceless Aura's actually take on a physical form." He looked up at Moira as Valkyrie struggled to take this bomb-shell in. "There's one hiding underneath Sydney, isn't there?" he asked. "The food supplier, Delirium?" He paused for a second, and when he spoke again, it was as if he had just realised something. "But why would an Aura be _here?_" he murmured, almost to himself. "Why would it trouble itself by coming here with you? I thought they only thought of Argona as worthy of their presence?"

Fang bared her teeth and raised her staff, bringing it over her head, two-handed. Skulduggery raised his hand defensively, and Valkyrie noticed his other hand slowly bringing his gun out.

He was clouding Moira's vision by getting her angry.

"Like they could inhabit Argona in the state it's in!" she snarled. "After what _you_ did to it; _your_ bloody warriors! Argona was a beautiful place; we were proud of our Waterscapes, of the Orchylyte Steppe; the forests of Gapra that we had to watch _burn_. If only you could see what the Sanctuaries have done to my home . . ."

"Argona was hell."

"Oh really? And how many times have _you_ been there!"

She suddenly took a step forwards, her grip tightening on that terrible weapon.

"Let this planet get what's comin'," she sneered. "Better that than watch a friend die!" Everyone raised their eyebrows, bar Skulduggery. Partly because he had none, and partly because he knew what she was talking about.

"Unfortunately," he said, lowering his raised hand, concealing the gun in his other. "We're here to make sure your friends die." Something snapped in Moira's eyes. She whipped the staff up and around her, anger fuelling her speed, passing it to her left hand, snapping out her right. Skulduggery darted forward, raising his gun.

"And you along with them!"

Crystals exploded all along the ridge of Moira's arm just as Tanith leapt from the trees behind her, coming in at breakneck pace, sword drawn. Skulduggery pulled down on the trigger three times just as Tanith came within slashing distance of Moira's body, when she struck.

Whipping her crystallised arm outwards, three needles of crystal erupted from her skin, clashing into the bullets and shattering them. Simultaneously, she spun with her staff, misjudging her angle, so instead of impaling Tanith, the pole of the staff crashed into her ribcage, sending her crashing into a tree.

Skulduggery grunted and hurled himself sideways as she swung the blades towards him, firing two more bullets. The spinning staff caught one of them in it's flurry of movement, but the other one hit, striking into Moira's leg, making her grunt and slip back. The pain was evident in her eyes, but she didn't stay down for long, picking up her staff and swinging her hand, pillars of crystal spiralling up from the ground. Skulduggery moved quickly to avoid them as they tumbled upwards, when Moira quickly changed direction and aimed for Vantom, who came in from behind, Tanith moving parallel. Swinging that staff around, one pillar bent and followed it, slamming into the two, sending them into a wall. She jump up onto the crystal pillar, blood flowing freely down her leg.

"You overestimate yourself," came a voice from below, and Moira smiled in disbelief as she watched Skulduggery point his gun at her again. Vantom and Tanith had closed in on her from behind again, with Valkyrie and Ghastly the other side. Moira sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Gently, she swung her staff up and around again, harnessing it onto her back, and snapping her hand outwards at Ashione.

The crystal began to slowly retract, almost like it was thawing, and then suddenly melted away, leaving Ashione standing there, a slightly dazed look on her face. Tanith darted forward and caught her as she fell forward, all of her breath leaving her body. Moira smiled and lowered her arm, and looked back at Skulduggery.

"I overestimate myself, huh?" she said as a large roaring began to fill their ears. Valkyrie looked to her left, to where the forest stretched out for miles and miles underground, and the source of the noise. Dia Moira raised her arm. "No," she said. "_We_ overestimate you."

Suddenly, a machine burst out of the forest, long and large and black and red. It's two tyres were huge and worn down by the crystal grass, but that didn't stop the man riding it from getting a kick out of it. He was huge; heavily muscled and thick, but his face was laughing and smiling, his chin-length black hair mostly covered by a blue bandanna. His coat was ankle length and dark red, and he had black stubble on his chin. The motorbike he was riding banked towards Vantom and Tanith, who was still holding Ashione, and they leapt to the side to avoid being crushed. The bike rode up the side of the crystal pillar that had sent Vantom and Tanith crashing into the trees, it's tyres gripping good. Dia Moira laughed as he slowed down next to her, arching his eyebrows.

"You've looked better," he remarked, looking down at her leg. Moira grinned, and arched her hand round in a circle.

"It's Monday," she smiled, and the man nodded.

"Ah, your off day, right?"

Argona dia Moira smiled sarcastically, and held out her hand, gesturing with her fingers. The crystal on the pillar grew upwards, covering her leg and staunching the blood flow, dipping into the wound. A small, black speck appeared in the crystal as the bullet was pulled out, discarding it. The crystal tightened and flowed, until it wrapped perfectly around Moira's thigh like a divine bandage, snapping off at the base, and she winked.

"Just remember this, kids," she said, glancing down at the sorcerer's around her. "I didn't lose today. I just didn't win. Come back and try again tomorrow, when I'm at full strength, and then I'll beat the living sod outta you. Took you long enough to get this far, right? Seven against one. What if me and Razuel here were to both fight you? What'd you do then?" Razuel grinned down at them and revved the engine on his bike. Skulduggery shrugged.

"We'd just kill both of you," he responded simply. Razuel barked out a harsh laugh, and dia Moira fought hard to keep the smile from spreading across her face.

"Now that's a funny one," she sighed, pressing her hand to her temple, brushing her hair back. "I like you guys. We don't get many laughs around here. So, instead of laughing next time, I'll promise you-" her eyes narrowed, making Valkyrie wince "-I'll be deadly serious."

Ghastly let out a snarl and clicked his fingers, summoning fire.

"That's only if you can get away now," he snapped, his face tightening when dia Moira laughed again.

"Aw, bless you," she smiled, crouching down, touching one hand to the crystal. "But you're in the Shining forests of the Sheith, sweetheart. These are _our_ forests."

She glanced back at Razuel, and nodded.

"Checkpoint," he grinned. "I got it." His wrist suddenly clenched around the throttle on his bike, and the back tyre roared into life, and he skidded off of the pillar, and within a second, he was speeding back through the forest, leaving shattered crystals behind him.

"Follow him!" Skulduggery yelled, and Vantom nodded, and turned to pursue, but Moira was quicker.

"Uh, uh uh," she tutted, and suddenly twisted, spreading her hands wide. A wall of solid, sharpened crystal erupted from the branched of the trees, joining into each other. Vantom cried out as several strands pierced his body, and he leapt back, snapping the crystals, several of them remaining in his body. Dia Moira laughed as she crouched down again, and spun, whipping her hand upward. Crystals began to gather around her feet, arching up quickly around her body. Just as the crystals reached her arms, she blew Skulduggery a kiss and kicked back off of the pillar. Tanith, still supporting Ashione, shouted out for them to stop her, but it was too late. Positioned in a back-flip, the crystals enveloped her, detaching from the pillar, and she fell.

With a large smash, and a shatter of crystal, Argona dia Moira had gone.

_Nala sighed and pulled one knee up to her chest, resting her chin on it irritably. She wasn't used to sitting still and waiting when there was a battle going on; she was a soldier, not a baby-sitter. Tossing a strand of her brilliant hair over her shoulder, she surreptitiously reached down and stroked an almost identical head of hair sitting just beneath her, cross-legged on the floor._

"_How long d'you think dia Moira will be?" Susan Crescent asked gently, linking her brown eyes with Nala's. Susan had to be careful when she sat; her white skirt, whilst pretty, was short, her green lacy stocking coming to a rest on her thighs, just beneath it. Her shirt was green and dainty, and she wore a thigh-length, white sleeveless jacket on top of that. Her hair, red as her older sisters, was curly, but it was much tidier than hers._

_Susan wasn't a warrior like Nala._

_She was just someone she liked to fuss over. _

"_I don't know," Nala sighed heavily. She was bored, and tired. "Dia Moira likes to play things out for at least ten years. Razuel only left about ten minutes ago, so he should have found her by now. They'll be on their way back, if their not dead."_

"_Stop being such a worry-guts!" someone suddenly said from above them. Nala looked up, her lips twitching in a slight smile as a girl climbed out of the crystal ceiling above them. Her hair was pale blonde; her fringe pushed back off of her pretty face. Her eyes were a deep amber, set off by the tribal necklaces she wore around her neck. Her brown shirt was short, showing off her flat stomach, and her wrists were decked with different coloured bangles, that jangled as she moved. Some kind of animal fur decorated the collar of the shirt, reaching out around her shoulders. She wore a white skirt, fastened to another brown fabric with various belts, and a long side-skirt of rabbit fur ran down her thigh until it tickled the back of her knee."Moira'll be fine! She always is!" Her accent was almost as sharp as Moira's, but her voice was higher, and lighter._

_Rajah sighed from the other side of the small crystal room, flicking across some screens on his laptop._

"_Carmella dia Senshi," he sighed, his eyes scanning the screen, "ever the optimist, ain't 'cha?"_

_Carmella huffed a sulk and dropped down from the ceiling, sashaying up to Rajah, and poking him roughly on the nose._

"_Stop being a tease!" she pouted, placing her hands on her hips. "Seriously, Rajah; even Grace is holding out more hope than you!"_

_She smiled across the room at a young boy who sat in the corner. He look about fifteen, with slightly wavy brown hair, and bright, glittering cyan eyes. His clothes were modest; a black, short-sleeved shirt, and normal jeans, double with some ordinary trainers. He wore a dark blue scarf around his neck, and one of his hidden ears was pierced with a flesh tunnel. He was stunningly handsome, but something about him made you want to cry; it was like watching a kid suffering._

_At the mention of his name, Grace looked up, smiling slightly._

"_So I'm here now, am I?" _

_Nala laughed her short, harsh bark of a laugh, motioning for him to come and sit with her, which he did so. Grace shared an instant connection with Nala; even more so than her little sister. He had claimed she had saved his life once, many years ago, but Nala, being her modest self, always denied it and made out Grace to be a superb fighter. He was also a regular victim of dia Senshi's crushing hugs; Nala wasn't the only one he shared a natural affinity to._

_Carmella dia Senshi smiled at him sweetly, before turning back to sullen Rajah._

"_Razuel will come through that door any minute now," she finished, folding her arms. "And dia Moira will be there with him!"_

"_Forget the door, dia Senshi," came a voice from above as a slender hand emerged from the crystal ceiling above them. Hauling herself out of the ceiling, Argona dia Moira smiled. "It wouldn't be too smart leading them to the entrance. You might forget; whilst I may be an idiot, I ain't stupid." Carmella laughed and gripped dia Moira's hands and pulled her out from the ceiling completely, and wrapped her arms around her as soon as her sandals hit the floor. Dia Moira laughed and hugged her back._

_After a second, they broke away, and she returned the hug Nala gave her, eyes widening slightly. Nala never _hugged.

"_Baby-sittin' really that boring?"_

"_Oh, hell yes."_

_Dia Moira laughed again and reached upwards, taking a firm grasp of the gloved hand that had just emerged from the ceiling above her. With one almighty tug, she swung downwards, pulling Razuel out of the ceiling allowing him a nice, hard landing on the crystalline floor beneath him. _

_He looked up at her in disbelief._

"_What's your problem?" he asked, as dia Moira placed both hands on her hips, glaring down at him._

"_You _know_ what the problem is!" she barked, her voice suddenly harsh. Razuel looked like he was going to open his mouth to argue, but his eyes suddenly widened, and he stopped short._

"_Oh," he said. Dia Moira glared._

"_That was _fresh _crystal they were standin' on!" dia Moira suddenly erupted, using her elbow to force him back against the crystal wall. No one got up; the routine was perfectly normal._

"Fresh bloody crystal!" _she repeated, not noting the sheepish expression on Razuel's face. "Even a moron like you could see what I was plannin'!"_

_Nala sighed, sitting down heavily on a large, glassy stump._

"_Trust the worlds largest knuckle-head to screw up a plan that anyone could see through," she muttered, granting her an irritated glare from Razuel. But dia Moira wasn't done yet._

"_You could probably even _smell _all of that lovely new crystal as you left the safe-house, couldn't you!" _

"_Listen, Moira, it wasn't as if I didn't notice the fresh batches -"_

"_- then why did you do it?"_

"_Because you got shot!"_

_The reaction couldn't have been any different from saying "Voldemort". Dia Senshi made a little squeaking noise, Nala stood up, Susan gasped, Grace winced, and Rajah's laptop slipped off of his knee. _

_A minute passed, but eventually dia Moira stepped back, releasing Razuel from her firm grip. Her eyes were narrowed._

"_How did you know I was shot before you got there?"_

_Everything fell silent for a few seconds, before Nala stepped forward._

"_It was me," she automatically said, and everyone turned to look at her. She looked at them all individually, her face growing soft. "We'd thought you'd been gone too long; and you hadn't gotten into contact, and when I tried your com-link, we couldn't get through for interference . . . so we thought of sending someone into the Cryminiam."_

_Dia Moira blinked, and then exhaled a breath that no one had realised she'd been holding in. After a few seconds, a small smile broke out across her face._

"_The Cryminiam?" she repeated. Nala nodded, ignoring the meaningful looks Razuel shot her way._

"_We thought that something had happened to you."_

"_And you'd put that at the level that one of you would go in _there_ for me?"_

_Glancing anxiously at Nala, dia Senshi stood up, reluctantly nodding._

"_We'd thought you were hurt," she stammered, blinking up at dia Moira through her amber eyes. "I couldn't feel anything through the Brand any more . . . I got scared, so I went into the Cryminiam to look for you. You always said I was the best Seer."_

_Dia Moira sighed._

"_Yeah," she murmured, ruffling dia Senshi's silky hair. "But from now on, don't go into that place alone; it's run by the Aura's . . . I don't trust it . . ."_

_Her voice trailed off as she began to lose herself in thought, so Razuel quickly stepped in, desperate to steer all the attention of his mistake away from them all._

"_Why were you even going to bother making them all ornaments?" he blurted, snapping her out of her stupor. "I thought you were gonna just let the jackals at them? Why go through the trouble of growing all that new rock to crystallize them when you could have just gotten some help from our furry little friends?"_

_Dia Moira shrugged._

"_They had a kid with 'em," she stated simply._

_Everyone stopped. _

_Grace swallowed._

"_They had a kid with them?" he repeated, his eyes narrowing. "But why? Why would they bring an inexperienced person with no past recollection into an environment like this?"_

"_Grace's right," Nala interrupted. "That's basically suicide. Bringing a kid with no training for this type of place _into_ this place? Are you sure that they didn't want you to kill them?"_

_Dia Moira smiled as everyone broke out into small pearls of laughter. Jokes of enemies rarely came nowadays; and Nala's blunt humour had dwindled to an all-time low lately, which was really the only reason they all stayed sane. _

_Dia Moira shrugged and straightened up, the crystal bandage on her leg beginning to dissolve. The crystals melted away, but some of it remained, leaving her skin rock-solid and glimmering. _

_Rajah sighed as he watched it._

"_Heal yourself like that again," he grunted, finally shutting his laptop down, "and you're gonna end up nothing more than those statue's you so willingly create._

_He was right. Casting a self-conscious glance around at the other Sheith, dia Moira picked out patches of skin that were also crystallised. Most of them were covered with bandages, so they weren't visible, but a large patch of skin on the back of Susan's neck was crystal; Nala had made her grow her hair to hide it. Grace's big toe on his right foot was pure, solid crystal; even Rajah had to heal a bullet-wound in his back, turning a large chunk of flesh and spine into the mineral. Nala was too fast on her feet to attain _serious_ injury, but small patches of skin, mostly on her back, were sporting the same rock-solid pattern. The crystals were beautiful, but Rajah's point was well-served; healing using crystal didn't speed up recovery. The crystal would only thaw and vanish in the same time it would take for a wound to heal normally. The crystal just filled the wound, stopped the bleeding, and halted the pain._

_Brilliant strategy for battles, but the aftermath always took it's toll._

_Dia Moira sighed and flopped down onto the floor, resting her head against the wall._

"_Nothin' to do but wait for 'em to leave, I 'spose," she sighed, looking up at the glimmering ceiling. Nala nodded._

"_Were they good?" she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly, stroking Susan's hair. Dia Moira shrugged._

"_They weren't the best," she replied, as dia Senshi sidled up to her, resting her blonde head on her shoulder. Dia Moira smiled as she did so an interlocked her arm with dia Senshi's. "But I managed to get a good read of them with all of that crystal-" she shot a look at Razuel "- I spread all over the ground. Three Commando elementals. One Ravager elemental. Two commando Adepts. And then that Synergist who was screwing with Rajah's equipment. No Sentinels, Saboteurs, or Medics. It wasn't surprising; they _did_ just charge in, guns blazing."_

_Grace frowned._

"_They didn't even have a Medic with them?" he asked, resting his smooth face on the back of his hand. "They _must_ have been crazy."_

_Nala smiled gently as she continued to stroke Susan's hair. Grace was probably the best Medic out of all of them; his skills along that line had advance so that he could actually heal his comrades _without _physical contact with them. Razuel smirked._

"_Unfortunately, the best fighters around usually _are_ crazy," he smiled, sitting back. Susan got up from Nala's feet and went to sit next to him, resting her smooth hair on his shoulder. Razuel smiled and wrapped his arm round her shoulder. _

_Nala nodded, seemingly unperturbed by her sisters abandonment. _

"_And we pretty much make our _living_ off of crazy," she stated simply. She stood up, stretching her arms. Rajah winced as the bones in her fingers cracked, his head flinching. She shot him another rare smile, and then pressed her hand against the wall._

"_I'm going on re-con," she sighed, looking down at dia Moira, who nodded, sullenly. "Sentinel or not, sensing _anything _through these walls is too hard. We've has Rajah at it ever since he got in here. We can barely feel an insect."_

_Dia Moira sighed and stood up, leaving dia Senshi behind, who whimpered._

"_I'll tag along too," dia Moira sighed, stretching. "Not for a fight, mind you; I just wanna get them back for that nice bullet they implanted in my leg. Besides-" -she shot dia Senshi a meaningful glance - "- I wanna see how Icarus is doing."_

_Dia Senshi stood up, her eyes widening._

"_I -Icarus!" she repeated, clasping her hands together. Even Razuel looked up. _

"_You're gonna try that _already_?" he asked, one of his eyebrows dipping. "But even you said . . . that it would be a long-shot. Besides, even if he's raring to go, there's no way we could survive down here without you and dia Senshi."_

_Dia Senshi immediately blushed, and dia Moira rested her hand against the wall like Nala. _

"_What a sweetheart," she grinned, and Rajah tittered. "Besides, I only wanna check. I ain't goin' nowhere; not yet."_

_She looked at Nala, who nodded, and they both snapped their fingers. The crystal began to melt away at their touch, dissolving into a tunnel that immediately closed up after them. Within five seconds, they had been submerged completely, vanishing into the glittering blueness._

_Dia Senshi pressed her hands to her lips, watching them vanish._

"_She said 'not yet'," she murmured, causing everyone to look at her. She looked up, trying to blink away the tears that had appeared in her eyes._

"_Do any of you think that dia Moira has something she isn't telling us?"_

"My foot's caught again," Valkyrie complained, stooping down to loosen the root that had tightened across her ankle. The crystal snapped satisfyingly after a hard enough blow, but it was unnerving the way every now and then, your foot would become caught in a root that wasn't there earlier. The main target of the crystals' unusual growth was normally Skulduggery; every now and then, he' trip, or stumble, and a part of crystalline grass behind him would suddenly become perfect – the root disappearing before anyone could say anything. Now, their suspicions were confirmed; the tree's definitely had something against them. Tanith fell into step next to Skulduggery, which was a brave thing to do if you didn't want to trip over.

"I still can't believe we let them get away," she muttered, crossing her arms. Ghastly made a noise that sounded like a grunt up in front, and Skulduggery shook his head.

"We didn't let them get away," he said, overstepping another root. "The woman called a retreat to this 'Checkpoint' of hers, so they retreated. The fight wasn't entirely worthless, mind you; we managed to see roughly how far along she is on the lines of her abilities. That's a _bit _of good news, at least."

Tanith arched an eyebrow, and then cursed as she stumbled over a root of her own.

"So what's the bad news, then?"

"That she is _very _far along the lines of her abilities. That is bad news."

Behind him, Deck grunted as he slipped on the grass, simply because the grip on his shoes were rubbish, but still cursing Argona dia Moira with every step. Valkyrie grinned at him.

Deck didn't 'get out of the field' much, as he put it. He liked to stay indoors all day and help through means of computers and his other technological marvels. Valkyrie had never really seen the point of computers; why sit in the warm all day on something that could think for itself, when you could be outdoors all day, kicking some bad-guy butt? True, computers where brilliant for Mortals, but for a Sorcerer or Mage to make it there chosen ability; that, in her opinion, was just _stupid. _

It must have been karma for her thoughts or something, because just then, Deck slipped, and he automatically reached out to steady himself, and he brought Valkyrie down with him. She landed on his chest painfully, feeling the breath leave her body.

Deck groaned as she winded him in turn. Without even checking to see if she was alright, he pushed her off of him and immediately went to checking his arm, looking through his goggles for any sings of damage. Valkyrie groaned and sat up, taking a deep breath before standing.

"You – are – not – funny," she panted, glaring down at Deck, who seemed to have given his arm the all-clear.

"I'm not funny?" he repeated, in an unusually high-pitched voice. "And I suppose YOU'RE hilarious; do you know how long it took for me to make this highly-expensive prosthesis? How much time and energy went into it? How much of my blood, sweat and tears -"

"If you don't shut up now, your blood, sweat and tears will be all OVER that arm of yours in a minute."

Ashione turned around glaring at them both. A little colour had reappeared in her cheeks, but apart from that, she looked terrible. Her hair hung limply down her back, straighter than it was before, and her brown eyes had lost their glitter; they were now dull, void things. Her skin had gotten paler, causing everyone some worry, but Vantom had assured them all that it was all merely shock, and that her short sentence in her crystal prison had not affected her health in any way. Ashione argued, saying her legs felt numb, and after a quick check, they _did_ notice a slight whither in her left knee. It seemed to be degenerative; the further they walked, the worse it got, and now she was using her sword in its scabbard just to help her walk. Apart from her legs, she did seem to be slowly recovering.

Well, enough to give her evil stares to Valkyrie and Deck again, at least.

They had been walking for hours. From everything their data and sources had told them, the Gapra forest stretched out underground for a few miles in each direction, but now they could see the vast majority of their mistakes. The forests weren't merely _miles_ ongoing; they went on what could only be put as forever.

Vantom, up in front, broke through a thicket of crystal hedges with the vapour that pored from his hands. His grunts were obvious; apparently, the larger the mass of the crystal, the tougher it was. Skulduggery had muttered something about spider-webs after his fifth stumble.

A few birds twittered and cawed somewhere in the branches above them, making Valkyrie jump. The forests had become slightly more intimidating the further they ventured into them; the pale glimmer of sunlight had vanished completely, and the trees had grown wilder, almost as if the Sheith had lost control of them. Birds that definitely _weren't_ from Australia, like buzzards and massive vultures, were cultivating in these parts of the forests, and everyone had paused with abject fear when a pack what looked like mutated wolves had darted out of the trees somewhere, apparently stalking some unfortunate species of animal that had evolved in the deepest reaches of the Gapra.

Since the wolves, nothing else had jumped them, although the roots of the trees still took pleasure in making everyone stumble randomly. Tanith had nearly impaled herself three times now, and after assuring her that there was no ambush awaiting them, Skulduggery finally convinced her to sheath her sword to save her greater damage.

They had been walking for about three hours before anything interesting happened. After listening to Tanith harping on about stopping to rest, and Ashione complaining about her leg, which seemed to have healed considerably, (even the shine in her hair had reappeared), Skulduggery had finally given them the all-clear to settle down in a clearing they discovered about twenty-five miles south of their battle ground with dia Moira.

Gratefully, Valkyrie slumped down heavily against a tree-trunk, being exceedingly mindful of the roots around the base of the trees. There was a gushing sound of water coming from about a half-mile ahead, and Skulduggery had taken Vantom with him to go and get some water, leaving Tanith in charge of Valkyrie, Deck, Ghastly and Ashione. Ashione had flopped down in front of a tree, dropping her sword to the side, a look of total dismay on her face. Deck had discarded himself with a similar air of unceremonious misery, and he set about to shutting his arm down.

Everyone was mostly exhausted; Ghastly and Tanith had sustained a few broken ribs from being tossed around the dia Moira, and Valkyrie's hand had been bruised after she had landed on it awkwardly. The thought of it still made the backs of her teeth sore. She had gone in, expecting to capture/kill these people immediately, and yet _one_ woman had drove them all off, even incapacitating one of them. Valkyrie leant her head back against the tree, trying to remember what Argona looked like. Her hair has been black, almost like Chain Sorrows, but a lot messier. Valkyrie stared upwards thoughtfully. Now she came to think of it, Argona _did_ remind her of China Sorrows with a LOT of her aspects. She was cocky and confident, fast on her feet, and very, very good-looking. But Argona seemed to be a little bit faster, and a hell of a lot stronger. Now she had a good though about it, Valkyrie thought she was more of a China/Tanith hybrid. Strong like Tanith, elegant like China.

Valkyrie blinked, close to unconsciousness. It had been a long and trying day, and not to mention the travelling they had done. Valkyrie had never told anyone, but she suffered terrible jet-lag. Any flight longer than three hours and she would probably be out of it within the next day or so. She felt Tanith's eyes on her as her head lolled back, sleep taking over. Her eyelids dropped as her breathing slowed, and finally, after 42 hours, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

"Valkyrie? Valkyrie, wake up! _Slowly!_" Tanith's voice was urgent. Valkyrie muttered something unintelligible, telling her to go away, when Tanith shook her shoulders roughly. "Valkyrie!" she hissed. "Wake up, now, before I make you!" Valkyrie, groaning, reluctantly opened her eyes, looking up blearily at Tanith.

"What?" she murmured, not immediately sensing the urgent look in Tanith's eyes. "What is it? How long have I been asleep?"

There was a hint of fear in Tanith's voice; real fear, and Valkyrie made her body sit up straighter.

"Only about half an hour," she murmured, whispering into her ear. "Skulduggery and Vantom aren't back yet . . . but something else has shown up instead . . ."

Valkyrie was suddenly awake, as she noticed the forms of Deck, Ghastly and Ashione standing somewhere in front of her. Ashione had her sword in her hand, and from what she could see in the now suddenly dark forest, her health had improved a lot. In fact, she looked better than _before_ she went into the crystal.

Ghastly had fire flaring in both of his hands, and Deck had his robotic arm raised in front of him protectively; Valkyrie had _always_ suspected him of hiding a weapon in there somewhere. But as she stood up, and as Tanith drew her own sword with it's trademarked sheen, she spotted something she didn't necessarily want to see.

The creature was huge; around the size of a moderate-sized van. It's head was an odd shape, with three eyes running either side of it's face. It's mouth was a huge, jagged hole, showing off razor-sharp teeth the size of coat-pegs. It's skin was grey, and over it's four legs a thick armour sprouted, enunciating the large, guitar-plectrum shaped scales that enveloped it's body. Each scale glimmered faintly blue, gently and unnoticeable, fading into the huge, bone-like talons that sprouted thickly from its feet. From the ridge above it's eyes, two huge, thick, wavy pieces of flesh detached themselves from it's skin, flapping and snaking about in a wavy motion from a breeze that didn't exist. It was standing about twenty feet from Ghastly, and all of it's beady amber eyes were linked with his, and its teeth were bared, its top lip quivering in a growl.

Moving slowly, Valkyrie walked forward with Tanith at her side. The beasts eyes swivelled towards them as they joined Ashione, whose face seemed to be positively glowing with health. Even now, her eyelashes seemed longer and thicker.

Not kidding, she was pretty before, but now she seemed to be edging towards what could only be described as beauty.

Ashione narrowed her eyes as they joined her, and she nodded.

"Not a _clue_ what it is," she whispered. "Deck ran some scans on it from a distance; apparently, this thing _doesn't_ exist. It's neither mammalian or reptilian, it doesn't lay eggs, it's never been spotted before -"

" - so it's a completely new species?"

Ghastly grunted, and the fire in his hands flared stronger.

"New or not," he grunted, "it can't be fireproof. We don't even think it's aggressive . . . all it has done so far is stand there, grunting and stamping." Deck raised his arm a little higher, reading something off of the screen in a language she couldn't understand.

Binary, maybe.

"It might be a territorial threat display," he muttered, looking the creature straight in the eyes. "If it is, then we have to hold our ground; if we try to run, it'll charge, and no amount of fire is going to stop it."

Ghastly grunted again and fell back a step, and the fire he held in his hands dimmed slightly. The creature raised one of its taloned hooves and clawed at the ground impatiently, as if waiting for one of them to challenge it.

A twig snapped somewhere behind them, and Valkyrie felt Tanith's skin prickle beside her. Skulduggery and Vantom were still missing, and whilst they were gone, this giant beast sneaks up on them out of nowhere. Drops of dew, or even rain, had appeared on the trees, and the aura of the Gapra had changed completely; _now_ Valkyrie could see how people could think the Sheith were monsters.

"We can't get a better assessment than _that_?" Ashione asked, arching an eyebrow. Her sword was steady in her hand, although her arm was shaking slightly. None of them had eaten anything all day; they were waiting for Vantom before they started dishing out the food they had brought with them, as Skulduggery didn't need to eat. But now they had to face this thing on an empty stomach and weak limbs, and two of their most seasoned fighters were away and unaware of the danger they were facing right now.

Valkyrie heard another twig snap behind her, and she allowed her head to turn slightly, her eyes making her head ache as she shifted them around far enough to see behind her. She swallowed.

"Tanith," she murmured, shaking the woman's shoulder. Her eyes were still attached to a spot behind her, instead of the creature, which had edged slightly closer, it's growling reverberating through the trees even louder than it was before.

Tanith, still keeping eye contact with the beast, raised her sword slightly higher and glanced down at Valkyrie.

"What?" she murmured. "What is it?"

"Behind us."

Tanith, still keeping eye-contact with the creature, raised her sword another few inches and switched the angle, so the reflection of the forest behind her appeared on the smooth sheen of her blade. Even now, Valkyrie could see the reflection as plain as day.

About seven feet behind them, Argona dia Moira stood, balancing that staff in the palm of her hand. A small smile had stretched across her face, playing with the natural upturn of her cheeks. She wasn't alone; another woman stood next to her, balancing a strange-looking sword in one hand. Her hair was a vibrant crimson, which half covered most of a pretty-looking, but battle-worn face.

Tanith swore.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped, casting deft glances between the two Sheith behind her and the huge creature in front of her.

The newcomer tracked the glances Tanith was throwing.

"It's a Feral Behemoth," she said, without answering Tanith's question. "It's aggressive. Luckily, this one isn't as big as some of the other ones around here; their prey has been sparse for a while, so the younglings don't grow up to be as big or chunky as their parents."

Her accent was something between nothing and a slight northern American twang; she was obviously not born in Australia. Dia Moira grinned.

"Playful little critter, isn't he?" she smiled as the Behemoth clawed at the ground again and snapped at them with it's thick-set jaws. "Ah bless; he thinks you're lunch."

Ghastly swore, and the fire in his hands flared upwards again.

The Behemoth, noticing the sudden change in Ghastly's aggression level, opened its mouth and let out a bellow that made Valkyrie's brain go fuzzy. Dia Moira laughed as the crystals on the trees rattled above their heads, and the Behemoth kicked out the dirt from behind it as it charged. Valkyrie fought hard to bite back a scream of panic and only let slip a grunt as Tanith yanked her to the side, raising her sword.

Experienced or not, it would take a lot more than Ghastly, Ashione, Tanith and Valkyrie to take the Feral Behemoth down, being the size of a small tank.

"Skulduggery!" Deck suddenly shouted, whipping around and scanning the tree-line in vain for him. "Vantom!"

His shouts seemed to enrage the Behemoth, whose pace picked up, sending the crystalline tear-drops from the trees shattering in all directions.

Valkyrie clicked her fingers, trying to summon fire. She failed twice, but on the third snap of her fingers, the spark formed, and she caught it in her hand. She willed her energy into it, making it ignite, then grow bigger, until she held a fireball in her hand. It wasn't as big and as powerful as normal, but, then again, she wasn't normally being chased down by a huge creature.

The Behemoth let out a bellowing roar as it charged into Ghastly's path. Ghastly dodged to the side, barely avoiding it's trunk-like legs, whilst Tanith and Ashione, simultaneously, leapt into the air above it and slashed it's back with their swords.

"The armour's too thick!" Valkyrie heard dia Moira shout. "No blade or bullet will pierce it's shell, so you may want to think of something else!" She had perched herself on a stump of crystal that wasn't there before, her eyes glittering. Nala was stood beside her, leaning against a tree, a neutral expression on her face.

Valkyrie was about to shout something abusive back when Tanith's hand was suddenly on her shoulder, and she was yanked viscously to the side as the Behemoth's large foot slammed into the place where she was standing,


End file.
